The Only Thing I Did on March 1 Was Declare a State of Emergency, Which I Was Obliged to Do. Kocharian

During the war, we were constantly fed lies that we were winning. This was stated by the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, in an interview with Vladimir Pozner.

“I knew what was happening, informed people knew what was going on, but the public was simply deceived, which is why the signed agreement was shocking for many. If we were constantly advancing, how could this happen? It turns out that failure followed failure; no successful military operation took place. It is impossible to express this with normative vocabulary,” he said.

When asked why he left power, Kocharian replied, “My second and constitutionally final term in leadership had expired.”

Pozner discussed the well-known events of March 2008, inquiring whether the second president bears responsibility for them, as he has been accused of shedding blood. “There were post-election events, a new president of Armenia had already been elected, my term was nearing its end, and I resigned my powers on April 9. So this was not at all about preserving my power. There were street disturbances, a state of emergency was declared, clashes with the police began, resulting in the death of two police officers, and more than 180 people were injured with shrapnel wounds and burns,” he said.

Kocharian noted that the only thing he did was declare a state of emergency, which he was obliged to do. “Literally a week ago, the Constitutional Court of Armenia nullified the article of the law under which I was charged in connection with those events,” the second president said.

To the remark about whether a new charge could be brought against him, Kocharian responded, “No, they won't be able to concoct anything; the prosecution is now trying to find some possibilities to reclassify the charges. I think they will not succeed. I have never understood the essence of this charge; we have said for three years that this is absurd, and finally, the Constitutional Court made such a decision.”